From reactions to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks to gender ideology and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), author and scholar Gad Saad warns that Western civilization is on the brink of collapse. In his new book, "Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind," Saad argues that the West has taken compassion to a dangerous place by prioritizing ideological virtue-signaling over truth and common sense.
"I'm not in the least bit arguing that empathy is a bad thing, but just like Aristotle explained to us several millennia ago, all good things in moderation," Saad told Fox News Digital.
"If you're not in the least bit empathetic, you're likely to be a psychopath, if you are too empathetic, if it hyperactivates, if it targets the wrong people in the wrong circumstances, then that becomes suicidal empathy," he explained.
Saad points to the West's reaction after Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre in Israel as an example of the phenomenon, noting that sympathy quickly shifted away from Israeli victims as criticism of Israel's military response in Gaza grew.
"You would have thought that the orgiastic depraved killing of 1,200 mainly Jewish people... the worst single day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust would have afforded the world an opportunity to exhibit empathy towards the Jews. Well, alas, as we very quickly found out, October 7th was forgotten," Saad said.
For Saad, the backlash against Israel in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks reflected ideological shifts that had been taking place in the West for decades. He argued that misplaced empathy eventually morphs into what he calls "civilizational seppuku," referring to a ritual suicide historically associated with Japanese samurai.
According to Saad, many of these ideas began on university campuses and later spread into politics, the media and culture. The result, he said, is a culture that is increasingly uncomfortable with objective definitions of what were once considered to be basic concepts, such as gender.
"Once you are fully parasitized, you end up with your most recent addition to the US Supreme Court, not having the self-assuredness to say, ‘Oh, of course I know what a woman is,’" he said, referring to an infamous moment from Justice Katanji Brown Jackson's 2022 confirmation hearing.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked Jackson to define the word "woman." Jackson refused, stating that "I'm not a biologist."
When speaking with Fox News Digital, Saad mocked Jackson's answer, saying that ordinary people routinely recognize obvious realities without seeking specialized expertise.
"By that logic, when I next have to choose which type of Belgian shepherd to bring into my home, I better seek the help of a veterinarian. Because I might simply choose a giraffe to be my Belgian shepherd, because I don't have the expertise to distinguish between the quadrupedal giraffe and the quadrupedal dog."
While Saad views the debate as absurd on its face, he believes the worldview behind it can have serious real-world consequences, such as antisemitism.
"A society that normalizes Jew hatred is exhibiting huge signs of moral decay," he told Fox News Digital.
Saad, who is Jewish, was born in Lebanon but fled the country with his family in 1975 during the civil war and eventually settled in Canada. He told Fox News Digital that while in Canada, he did not experience much antisemitism until 1998, adding that since then "it has been accelerating at a rather breathtaking rate." While working as a professor at Concordia University, Saad announced that he was taking a leave of absence in 2024.
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"It became very, very difficult for, you know, a high-profile Jewish professor who's outspoken in his defense of the Jewish people to just walk in on campus," Saad said. He added that the atmosphere became serious enough that he felt compelled to "read the warning on the proverbial walls."
"If you permit for such open, genocidal hatred of a group, it never results in a good outcome," he said.
Saad currently serves as a scholar at the Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom at the University of Mississippi and will be a distinguished professor there next year.
With the election of President Donald Trump, many thought that the ideas behind DEI and gender theory were dead, but Saad warned there is only so much one president can do and emphasized the importance of medium and long-term solutions. He noted that while political momentum can shift quickly, true cultural change takes time.
Even with the apparent backlash against these ideologies, Saad still encounters professors who are afraid to speak out. He told Fox News Digital that he's seen a slight increase in the number of professors who email him praising his work, but many of them end their messages by asking for anonymity if he chooses to share them.
"The fact that you write such a cowardly last sentence to your email suggests that very few people are yet willing to pick up the mantle and actually fight this battle," he said.
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